Piers Courage - 40 years on

It's 40 years to the day since Piers Courage was killed in the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix. Adam Cooper tells the story of that fateful weekend in an extract from his book Piers Courage: The Last of the Gentleman Racers

We'll never know what Piers Courage might have achieved had he not been killed at Zandvoort on June 21 1970, but there's no doubt that at the time of his death, Courage was one of the very best drivers on the grid.

He'd long been known as a quick but sometimes erratic driver, but in 1969 he finally really made his mark in F1, scoring two second places with the immaculate private Brabham BT26 of rookie team boss Frank Williams at Monaco and Watkins Glen. He was finally being considered as a serious contender, and potential winner.